Uconn

Connecticut's Lyle McCombs (43) pokes through for a touchdown against Massachusetts in the first half of an NCAA college football game in East Hartford, Conn., Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

EAST HARTFORD — Consider it foreshadowing. Success for the UConn football team this year will be achieved via one method: playing well in the ever-popular three phases of the game coaches love to talk about. The Huskies didn't necessarily play well in all of those phases in Thursday night's opener against UMass, but they did enough to walk away with an easy victory.

UConn amassed touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams in routing the Minutemen, 37-0, before an announced crowd of 35,270 at Rentschler Field. Now the question is whether the Huskies can get something from every unit as the season progresses.

"I liked the tempo we had all night," UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "It was a good way to start off the season. We got something from all three phases, which is something you like to see. There are still things we need to do better, but it met my expectations."

Chandler Whitmer's debut at quarterback was mostly good, though he made the usual questionable decisions that come under such circumstances. Whitmer completed 15 of 25 passes for 219 yards but was also intercepted twice.

Twice officially, anyhow. The first interception was a ludicrously athletic play by UMass' Darren Thellen off what seemed to be a good Whitmer decision. Whitmer intentionally threw a ball out of bounds, but Thellen leaped to tip it back in bounds, where it was intercepted by teammate Tom Brandt. That was as positive as it got for the Minutemen.

"It was all right," Whitmer said of his performance. "I have to go back and look at the film because I know there are some things I can do better. I'll look at the mistakes and learn from them."

This one was less about Whitmer and the offense than it was about the defense. Certainly, the level of opponent must be taken into account, but the defense looked fast, confident and appeared to send some sort of notice that it is not to be trifled with.

The Minutemen needed nearly the entire first half to finally get a first down. Their first of just three for the game came with 33 seconds left in the first half. Crossing the 50-yard line was a goal they never reached. UMass' final yardage tally was 59 on 47 plays. It wasn't until their final possession that they climbed out of the negative category in rushing yardage. Whatever UMass tried didn't work at all. It suffered its first shutout since Sept. 30, 1995, a 34-0 loss to Rhode Island.

"The defense went out there to make plays," said UConn linebacker Yawin Smallwood, who registered seven tackles, a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. "We did it. We came out here to prove something. We were solid and now we have to do that for the rest of the season."

The defensive dominance allowed the offense to at least try some things. Under Whitmer's direction, the Huskies were most effective in the passing game, a definite change from recent years. Much of that was due to the offensive line's inability to open any running lanes for Lyle McCombs. That might be an issue the remainder of the season, as many had feared.

In the offense's defense, it didn't have far to go much of the night. It played most of the game with a short field. Outside of a 75-yard scoring drive on the opening possession, the Huskies didn't need to traverse more than 51 yards on any other scoring drive.

"We need to be better in the run game," Pasqualoni said. "But overall, I thought the offense did a pretty good job. We were more effective with the deeper passes than with the short passes, but we moved the ball pretty well. Three turnovers is unacceptable but that's something we'll work on."

Geremy Davis proved to be Whitmer's favorite target, catching five passes for 79 yards. Michael Smith added three receptions for 30 yards. Nick Williams, taking over the slot receiver role vacated by Kashif Moore, finished the night with 143 all-purpose yards. He returned three punts for 66 yards, a kickoff for 37 yards, caught a pass for 16 yards and rushed three times for 24 yards.

It wasn't a perfect opener, but it was about what Pasqualoni could reasonably expect.

"We got the win and we played a lot of people," he said, "but we have some things to work on."

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